The first knockout round of the Champions League kicks off tomorrow with PSV Eindhoven hosting Arsenal.

PSV Eindhoven took Serie A side Juventus to extra time in the play-offs and won finally, while Arsenal finished third in the Champions league League stage. The status of both sides has fluctuated. PSV Eindhoven have won just 1, drawn 1 and lost 3 of their last 5 games and have lost two in a row. Arsenal's record is slightly better, with 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats, but they have failed to score in two games.

In terms of overall strength, PSV Eindhoven are obviously inferior to Arsenal, but PSV Eindhoven did beat Liverpool 3-2 in the league, which means that they will not only focus on defence and be beaten because of the gap in strength. In the pre-match press conference, the coaches of both teams mentioned the topic of 'low block'.

Peter Bosz: “I already indicated last year that defending starts with attacking. Then we immediately put pressure on the ball, which allowed us to win it back quickly and often did not have to defend at all. Football is a complex sport; you cannot point to one single aspect. It is a combination of many factors that have to fall into place.

“I adjust my strategy for every match, but we do that all the time. Those details influence the game all over the field. I know my team well and there is no guarantee that you will not concede goals with a low block. We have been successful with this style of play and the same players.”

When asking the question of whether having the ball in the opposition half more leads to facing a low block,Arteta reply like this:

Sometimes it’s not a choice. Sometimes we have had a lot of chances that we didn’t execute well enough, and that moment when teams are disorganised, and we are organised. We have faced a lot of them, we have played nearly every game for a back five for example. The other day they behaved like that in a different way because the winger was dropping.

We are so used to that, it’s about execution after that. Normally PSV behave in a different way, special things depending on home or away so we’ll have to wait and see.